Desert
Right before I cracked the spine to begin How Far Is The Ocean From Here by Amy Shearn I got really nervous. What if I hated it? What if it was no good? Actually I was confident I would like it and that it would be good, and I wasn’t disappointed, but as I had requested, from the author no less, a review copy, I was hoping to have only positive things to say about it. I had originally planned to review it for this publication which still OWES ME MONEY (and seems immune to both my polite requests and my harassment) but because of how they OWE ME MONEY I am of course, no longer writing for them. I started looking around for another venue for the review, particularly something local, but I also wanted to get the thing published in a timely manner. Bookreporter.com, who usually assigns me books, was kind enough to publish a review they knew I had written for someone else. Please visit Bookreporter because they are good people.
So, you can read my review there but let me say that it started out as a 100 word review for you know who than I lengthened it in the hopes of getting it someplace else but then finally edited it to fit the BR format. Maybe it is not my best writing, but trust me, this is a good book. Right before I found a home for this review I saw the book touted in O Magazine (which I always stick my nose in at my in-laws because I am fascinated by Oprah’s huge ego and because it takes a long time to read thus eating away at the quiet hours spent there) and so Amy didn’t really need my help to get the word out on this novel. Not that I thought she did, but I felt I could relax about the whole thing at that point.
How Far Is The Ocean From Here is getting lots of good press because it is a good book. It wraps up a bit neat for my taste but when I sat with that ending for a while I got it better: it was not a perfect fairy tale ending at all but it is a good resolution for the book. As I say in the review, the writing is lovely, the characters are interesting (and challenging to like often, which I admire in a story) and the setting, well, the setting is near and dear to my heart. This book I will be gifting for birthdays and holidays this year.
Another book I have enjoyed a whole lot recently is Say You’re One Of Them which I also reviewed at BR. Maybe enjoy isn’t quite the right word because these short stories are pretty bleak. But they are beautifully written and thought-provoking.
I have a bunch of new books to review lined up right now and am halfway through one of my own choosing. I have recently read The Post-Birthday World and I really don’t have much to say about it. I didn’t want to give up on it but closed the cover at the end feeling unsatisfied and passed it along to someone else the next day.
